Unflattering and negative thoughts about ourselves can trigger poor work performance and sometimes complacency as opposed to success. Known as Brain Junk, these thoughts of inadequacy and self- doubt can be maintained and controlled to bring out the best in you and your career.

If you don’t know that you have brain junk, you can’t really deal with it. So the first step is to identify that you have brain junk. This awareness can in itself be enormously empowering. Your brain junk can keep you captive. Finding out that you have it means you can take control and solve the problem.

Step 2. Assess

Once you know you have some brain junk, now it’s time to figure out what brain junk it is. There are many different kinds of brain junk—which one is yours? Is it brain junk about money? Do you have recurring negative thoughts that tell you that you’re not smart enough or you don’t know enough to achieve your dreams?

Track your thought processes for a couple of days and keep a journal. At the end of the two days, analyze the results and see what thought patterns recur. Then you’ll be able to determine which remedy to apply.

Sometimes a couple of minor shifts in perspective can help you exorcise your brain junk. You can change “stinkin’ thinkin’” by gradually replacing the negative thinking with its positive equal. This exercise is particularly useful when you have recurring, negative thought patterns that are junking up your thinking. Or, you can create a history of your successes in life to alter the way you see yourself. These are just two of many ways to exorcise your brain junk demons (and if you ever get stuck in your brain junk, you can hire a qualified coach to help you).

Step 4. Wait. Then Repeat

Your brain junk will come back and you’ll go through the process of tossing it out again. Over time, you’ll become more and more adept at decluttering your brain.

Rashida Maples, Esq. is Founder and Managing Partner of J. Maples & Associates (www.jmaplesandassociates.com). She has practiced Entertainment, Real Estate and Small Business Law for 9 years, handling both transactional and litigation matters. Her clients include R&B Artists Bilal and Olivia, NFL Superstar Ray Lewis, Fashion Powerhouse Harlem’s Fashion Row and Hirschfeld Properties, LLC.